


A Box is Involved

by Em_Jaye



Series: Good Madness [19]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bakery, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Kid Fic, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-26 22:09:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17149970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Em_Jaye/pseuds/Em_Jaye
Summary: "May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness"-Neil GaimanChristmas Eve





	A Box is Involved

**Author's Note:**

> Well this is it, guys, the last story to fill in the gaps between the last two chapters of the original 'Kinda Magical' fic from last Christmas. Originally, this was as far as I wanted to take it but I still have too many thoughts and ideas and plot bunnies and--most importantly--I have too much love left for this universe to be totally done with it.
> 
> After this fic, I don't think I'll be keeping with the once-a-month timeline. I have at least two ideas that might require more than a single one-shot to achieve, but I'm going to see where the 'verse and the bunnies take me.
> 
> But let me say this, before we get to the fic: the response to this universe has been one of the greatest joys of my fanfic career. I could not have predicted how many people would need this kind of tooth-rotting fluff and how good it feels to be delivering something that brightens a stranger's day. 
> 
> I love you all. I kiss you all. And I wish everyone the happiest of holidays.

Alysha let out a shriek as she pulled away the tissue paper of her white elephant gift. “No!” she cried in despair and lifted out the ancient, cracked white leather fanny pack from the glittering bag. “I can’t end up with the fanny pack full of drugs this year!” she insisted around a cackle of laughter. “I’ve got law enforcement frequently visiting my apartment!” She hugged it to her chest. “Someone has to steal this. Who’s next?”

Laura held up her number, laughing. “Fine,” she sighed. “I’ll steal the fanny pack full of drugs,” she beckoned for it. “The boys are home from college until the end of January—Chris and I are going to need a boost one of these days.” She slid the zipper open carefully and peered inside. “What’s on the menu this year?”

“Mostly weed,” Megan said with an almost apologetic shrug. “There’s like, a teeny bit of blow and a little hit of Molly. Also, an IOU for some mushrooms once my brother gets back in town. I can totally get you more if you really want it,” she added quickly.

“Y’know, for a forty-seven-year-old baker and her fifty-three-year-old librarian husband?” Laura held up the fanny pack, “Pretty sure this miniscule amount of party drugs are going to be just enough.” She grinned and snapped a picture with her phone to text to her husband. “I’ll guard it with my life and return its bounty next Christmas,” she added solemnly. “Leash, you’ve gotta pick a new present now.”

Darcy laughed as Alysha chose another gift from beneath the little store tree. The fanny pack full of drugs—though usually a misnomer as it was hardly ever _full_ of drugs—had been a part of the Queen of Tarts white elephant gift exchange since Raina had acquired it in 1987. It had been gifted to her, packed with cocaine, as a tip when she’d catered a wedding in Atlantic City and they’d been passing it around for a gag gift, always with some kind of bad decision tucked inside, ever since.

They finished the gift exchange—Darcy wound up with a handheld bongo drum that she figured Charlotte would love—and took a handful of photos before everyone started boxing up cookies and treats to take home for their holiday.

“And you’re _seriously_ paying us for next week?” Tyler, their newest barista, asked dubiously as he collected his box of cookies. “Even though we’re closed?”

“Tyler, shut up before she realizes what an insane idea it is,” Jamie hissed, snapping his fingers.

Darcy rolled her eyes. “Yes,” she said patiently. “Everyone is getting paid for thirty hours while we’re closed next week. I can’t give you guys all that much the rest of the year,” she reminded. “So, a little week of PTO is my gift.” One more thing Raina had always insisted at the holidays—a week to be home between Christmas and New Years where no one had to worry about losing a week of pay at the start of the new year. There was a savings account Darcy siphoned money into all year to be able to afford to continue her mother’s generosity, but it was worth it to see the way the time off refreshed her staff when they returned in January.

“Your face is my gift,” Alysha said and wrapped her arms around her boss and kissed her cheek. “And your face, Mina,” she added, moving on to kiss the next woman in her line of sight. “And yours, Laura!”

“Oh my God, you’re so annoying when you’re in love!” Jamie cried.

“You’re just jealous!” Alysha waved away her best friend’s criticism from her embrace with Megan.

“Painfully and horribly,” Jamie agreed.

“Okay, okay,” Darcy held up her hands, laughing. “Less gush, more rush, I want to get cleaned up and out of here before six.”

“You should go,” Mina said, returning the chairs they’d scattered all over the café. “Let us take care of everything here.”

“No, it’s okay,” she shook her head. “Anyway, that’s not fair. We’ve all got stuff to do tonight.”

“No, really,” Laura agreed as Megan nodded. “You’re giving us paid vacation—the least we can do is clean and lock up for the week.”

She knew she should fight harder, act like she really didn’t care when she got home, but that just wasn’t true. According to her watch, Steve and Charlotte would still be at church for another hour, leaving her with a house to herself to shower and get ready for the evening. That sounded too good to pass up. “Are you _sure_?” she asked, glancing around her work family, meeting everyone’s gaze.

“We’re sure,” Jamie said with a decisive nod. “ _Feliz Navidad_ , boss lady,” he gave her a gentle shove toward the door. “Take your cookies and bongos and get out.”

“Music to my ears,” Darcy said with a grin. “Seriously, I love you guys.”  Everyone gathered for a quick, impromptu group hug and a murmur of returned love and holiday wishes before she headed for the door. Cookies in one hand, bongo in the other, she splurged for a cab on the way out and got home twenty minutes faster than she would have on the bus.

 

***

 

Halfway through a glass of wine and finished with her first plate of appetizers, Darcy noticed Charlotte gazing around the kitchen, looking troubled. “What’s wrong, Peanut?” she asked over the sound of mild bickering between Sam and Bucky in the living room and Natasha’s laughter over something Steve was saying.

“There’s too much food,” she said with a frown, pointing to the kitchen table and counters. “We don’t have any room to bake.”

Darcy shared her frown. “Hmm,” she said, glancing around. “You’ve got a point.” She set her wine glass down and bent down to be at eyelevel with Charlotte. “And you _really_ want to make these cinnamon rolls, huh?” Charlotte nodded. “Like, _really_ really?”

“Really really,” Charlotte said seriously. “It’s important.”

Darcy wouldn’t have minded skipping the cinnamon rolls and just letting the night unfold like it had last year—appetizers, Christmas movies, and a living room that had been converted to a nest of pillows, blankets, and twinkle lights. But since Thanksgiving, Charlotte had become increasingly concerned about making sure Darcy’s traditions were being folded in with her own and she’d clearly clung to the idea of cinnamon rolls being important.

Briefly, she entertained a ‘What Would Raina Do’. There was no doubt in her mind that there were probably many Christmas Eves that her mother—exhausted from a busy holiday season at the bakery and with feet that wouldn’t stop aching for at least a day—probably could have skipped the cinnamon rolls as well.

But she hadn’t.

Darcy smiled and clapped her hands to her knees. “Alright,” she said with a nod. “Then let’s get some help moving these platters out of the way. What’s the dining room table looking like?”

Charlotte visibly brightened and peered around Darcy. “Pretty empty,” she said, mirroring a nod.

She stood up and popped her head into the living room and caught Steve’s gaze. “Can I get some help real quick?”

He joined them in the kitchen, confused as he watched Charlotte moving plates and platters from the small table to the larger one in the dining room. “What are you doing, Char?”

“Can you help her move the food out to the other table?” Darcy asked sweetly as she opened the cabinet and got down her beaten and battered recipe box. “We need a space to bake.”

Steve frowned and looked at the clock. “You’re gonna bake _now_? Aren’t you tired?”

She smiled as Charlotte took another two plates out into the dining room. “I told her we would,” she said quietly with a nod in the little girl’s direction.

“Okay…” Steve said slowly. “But you know you don’t _have_ to do something just because she wants to,” he reminded, keeping his voice just as low. “Especially after all the hours you’ve been working.”

But Darcy shook her head and stretched up on her toes to kiss him. “It’s important,” she echoed Charlotte’s words from earlier. “To both of us,” she added and kissed him again. “Just give her a hand while I get the ingredients?”

Steve smiled with a nod and hefted the crockpot full of macaroni and cheese up and off the table.

Once the prep space was cleared and the supplies were assembled, Darcy held up the recipe card. “Do you want to read or assemble?” she asked as Charlotte tied on her apron.

“Assemble,” Charlotte said right away.

“And should we ask anyone else if they want to help?”

Charlotte bit her lip and looked troubled. “Do we _have_ to?” she asked quietly. “I just…wanted to do this _just_ with you.”

Darcy bent and kissed her blonde hair. “Me too,” she said with a smile before she straightened back up. “Now, get crackin’ on those eggs.”

 

***

 

She didn’t know what time it was when she finally heard Steve’s footsteps on the stairs. She’d gone to bed right after they’d set out presents for Charlotte, unable to keep her eyes open any longer. With Natasha curled up like a cat on the couch, barely awake enough to wave goodnight, she hadn’t felt too guilty leaving the boys to their usual cards and bourbon when she’d finally called it and headed up hours ago.

She felt the bed dip on her side before Steve’s hand rubbed her arm gently. “Hey,” he said softly, his voice just above a whisper. “How asleep are you?”

Darcy managed a sound of recognition a moment before she shifted to be able to hear him better. “Why?” she asked, more to the pillow than to him.

She could hear him smile. “I have something for you and you need to be awake to get it.”

“Is it a box of kittens?” she asked, her eyes still closed.

Steve laughed. “No.”

“Just one kitten?”

“No.”

She managed to pull open one eye and looked at him. “Just a box?”

Steve tilted his head in thought. “A box is involved,” he conceded. “Come on,” he said softly. “Just give me ten minutes and you can go back to sleep, I promise.”

Darcy groaned out the last of her resolve to stay asleep and rolled to her back. “I swear to God if this is a dick-in-a-box gag…”

He snorted loudly. “No, but that’s such a good idea I almost wish it was.”

“I mean,” she reasoned with a satisfying stretch, “I wouldn’t even be mad. That’d be hilarious.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Steve said and gave her hand a gentle tug.

She pulled herself up and pushed back her hair. “Okay,” she crossed her legs in front of her and opened her eyes all the way. “Awake Darcy is on the scene. What’s up?”

Steve took a deep breath in, looking a little nervous. “I’ve been trying to do this for a while,” he admitted. “And I keep chickening out or the timing’s wrong or you’ve been asleep or—” he let out a heavy _whoosh_ of air. “I’ve just got to stop waiting for the right moment because—”

Darcy felt her eyes widen and her stomach twist. “Wait,” she held up a hand. “You’re not breaking up with me, are you?”

Steve looked up, horrified. “What? No,” he shook his head. “No, I’m not breaking up with you! Is that what you think this is?”

She didn’t feel the relief just yet. “Well, you kind of look like you’re going to throw up and I just figured I’d—”

“No,” he cut her off, emphatically. “I’m not breaking up with you.”

She let out the breath she’d been holding. “Okay, good,” she nodded. “I was just checking.”

Steve still didn’t look relaxed as he reached out and took her hand, running his fingers over her knuckles. “It’s just…I’ve been trying to tell you that meeting you is one of the best things that happened to me. And that having you in my life felt like you restarted my heart.”

Darcy lifted her free hand and pressed her palm to his chest, feeling his quick heartbeat beneath her hand. “It’s a good heart,” she said softly. “And I don’t think it was ever as cold as you believe it was,” she added with a soft smile. “But you and Charlotte are the best things that ever happened to me, too.” She curled her fingernails against his t-shirt and swallowed a sudden lump in her throat when she remembered how lonely she’d been before; how small she had kept her life since her mother had died, how she’d spent so much time working just so there was something to fill the long, quiet hours every day. “This has been the happiest year of my life.” She paused and grinned. “Especially if you’re not breaking up with me.”

His throat bobbed with a swallow and he reached up to take both of her hands in one of his. “I’m not breaking up with you,” he repeated, shaking his head with an affectionate roll of his eyes before he cleared his throat. “But I uh—” he coughed again, and Darcy felt her heart stutter between beats. “I don’t necessarily want to be your boyfriend anymore.” He leaned forward and opened the drawer of the nightstand and removed a small, velvet box.

Darcy’s eyes were wide, everything inside her brain telling her to calm down, that she was reading too much into this. That somehow, this wasn’t what she thought it was. “Wait,” she furrowed her brow. “Wait—what did you just say?”

Steve smiled and cleared his throat a third time. “I said I didn’t want to be your boyfriend anymore,” he repeated and popped the ring box open, revealing a diamond that sparkled even in the dim light, set atop a delicate, twisted band. “I want to be your husband.”

All her breath left her at once and she looked up from the ring to his blue eyes, nervous and vulnerable and so honest it made her want to cry. As if there was any chance she wouldn’t accept—as if every part of her hadn’t relaxed the minute his lips first met hers. As if there was a place anywhere in the world for her other than here, beside him, with her hands in his. Darcy’s vision swam as she threw her arms around him, almost knocking him backwards.

She felt his arms circle around her, something that felt like a hitch in his breathing that could have been laughing or crying—she wasn’t sure which one she was doing anymore. She wasn’t really sure of anything in the moment, just that she wanted to hold him against her and make sure he knew she never wanted to let go.

“Is that yes?” he asked, his words muffled against her hair.

Darcy pulled back, cheeks wet, and blinked. “What?” she asked, her arms still around his neck. “I didn’t hear a question,” she said with a laugh as he reached up and pushed at her tears with his thumb.

Steve smiled and held her face in his hand. “Darcy Lewis, would you please do me the honor of marrying me?”

“Yes,” she said, almost before he could finish the words. “Yes, I will marry you.” She let out another wet laugh and leaned in to kiss him, a kiss that was salty with tears and interrupted by smiles and soft laughter.

It was a kiss full of sweetness and relief and the promise of a million more to follow. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Important notes: the fanny pack full of drugs is a thing I stole from my hairdresser--it's a vital part of the salon's white elephant exchange every year and its origins are exactly as described here. Except it wasn't a wedding in Atlantic City, it was in Vegas. And Darcy interrupting Steve to ask if he was breaking up with her is lifted from my own life and my own proposal, which my husband thought was hilarious.
> 
> \---
> 
> Let me know what you think! 
> 
> Share the love on Tumblr @idontgettechnology and check out ishipitpod.com for more fanfic fun
> 
> *blows kisses*


End file.
